One Night Makes All The Difference
by JakeTheSheepy
Summary: Harry realized his feelings for Ginny a little late, she and Dean have been dating for over a year. One night everything changes. It's a HG oneshot.


Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter I wouldn't be posting on a fan fiction website.

One Night Makes All The Difference

By Jake

A raven haired teenager looked pensively into the dwindling fire of the Gryffindor common room. A leather-bound book of parchment lay open in his lap; he chewed absently on a quill occasionally scribbling a line on the page. The common room door burst open breaking the silence and startling Harry enough that he dropped his quill. He stood and looked around the room, seeing no one; he raised his wand, "_Accio_ invisibility cloak!" There was a stifled cry as the silvery material of his own invisibility cloak fell away to reveal a disheveled Ginny Weasley, tear tracks still evident on her face. Harry blinked, clearly not expecting to see that, he vaulted over the couch and pulled Ginny to him. "Gin, what happened? The diminutive redhead broke down sobbing into his shoulder "D-Dean!"

Harry looked around the currently deserted common room and decided that this was a conversation he didn't want Ron to burst in on, he took Ginny into his arms and half walked half carried her up to his Head Boy suite. Once inside he closed the door and locked it with a complex set of locking spells; he then cast a silencing charm on the room. He sat the shaken redhead down on his bed and drew up a chair for himself. He sat facing her, "Gin, what happened?" He looked down at the girl whom he had realized to be the love of his life during his sixth year with concern etched in his features. "Did Dean do something to you?" Harry struggled to control his rage and even managed to keep his hurt in check as Ginny's eyes welled at the mere mention of his name, but then she spoke. "No, Dean didn't _do_ anything to me, he was just with Parvati." She said it nonchalantly and almost held her composure for a solid moment before she broke down against him crying her heart out. A year ago, Harry would have panicked, having no idea what to do with a girl crying on his shoulder. But now he comforted her as best he could. He whispered softly in her ear, promising that she'd find the love she deserved, telling her that Dean was a fool to leave her.

Later, when Ginny had calmed down, she spoke again smiling bitterly "I just have the best luck with guys don't I, Harry?" She ticked them off on her fingers, "First there was Tom, and then there was that silly crush on a certain Boy-Who-Lived, then Michael who dumped me for Cho, and Dean who cheated on me with Parvati!" Harry took her hand and looked into her eyes, "That's not you're fault, you couldn't have known that things would turn out that way!" He smiled sadly, "Besides, it wasn't you who misjudged character with the Boy-Who-Lived; he was just an idiot who was too late to see the wonderful person he missed out on." Ginny shook her head looking up into his emerald eyes, "Harry, you don't understand! My bad judge of character nearly lost me my virtue!" Whatever the Boy-Who-Lived had been expecting to hear, it hadn't been that and he spat the tea he had been drinking back into his cup. "What? Dean didn't! You said he didn't do anything to you!" Ginny shook her head again, "He didn't do anything to me, but today was our anniversary." She bit her lip looking Harry in the eyes; "I was going to give myself to him."

He blinked as her words sunk in "You—you were going to give yourself to him?" his voice was slightly strangled but he quickly got control of himself. Harry had always entertained the thought that one day Ginny would come around and give him a second chance and that they'd have their first time together. He knew that it was a stupid fantasy; after all she had been dating Dean for over a year now, he shook his head and almost smiled, surprised that she and Dean hadn't already been together. Ginny blinked looking at him, "What are you thinking, Harry?" She glared accusingly at him, "Are you thinking that I'm a silly little girl? That I shouldn't be making such a big deal about my virtue?" The fiery redhead stood up angrily, "What are you smiling about Harry Potter?"

A pair of emerald eyes, full of a sorrow that he always tried to repress looked up at her. "Oh nothing, just a silly fantasy." He smiled slightly, "You know, you're sexy when you're angry." Ginny smiled at him slightly taken aback by the sorrow behind the hero of the wizarding world.

"You won't sidetrack me that easily Harry Potter! So what was this silly fantasy?" She sat down and folded her arms waiting.

"I didn't think it would work. Though, you are sexy all the time, so I didn't make anything up." He ran a hand through his hair. "The fantasy was nothing, really. It was just—just that I always hoped that one day you'd give me a second chance and eventually our first time would be together." He smiled sadly, "Silly, huh?"

Ginny Weasley was never surprised easily; she had lived with Fred and George after all. To say she was surprised with the contents of Harry's fantasy would be an understatement. As the shock started to wear off, she noticed Harry looking self-consciously at his hands which were clasped together on the table, she reached out and touched Harry's hands. "Oh Harry." That was the last coherent thing said by either of the two teens before a petite redhead jumped over the table to snog the Boy-Who-Lived-Again senseless.

Harry Potter never fought the urge to rise in the mornings; his dreams were generally unpleasant and involved people that died for him or people that he killed—dream depending—during the Second War. But on this particular morning the Boy-Who-Lived groaned as consciousness was thrust upon him. He awoke from the best dream of his life with a smile on his face and a slight blush, in his dream, he and Ginny Weasley—the blush became more pronounced. He blinked noticing the warm body wrapped in his arms and the tickling sensation of silky red hair on his bare chest. "Blimey, I must still be dreaming." He nuzzled the top of Ginny's head and smiled taking in her scent. "Hope I don't wake up anytime soon…" he mused softly to himself and then felt a pinch to his posterior. "Hey!" He grinned looking down at the petite redhead who turned to face him "What was that for?" She looked up at him smiling mischievously, "Two things, waking me up, and to show that you aren't dreaming." Harry flashed _Witch Weekly's_ most charming smile at her "Well, then I suppose I owe you Miss Weasley, and I always pay my debts." Ginny was quite glad that she hadn't been standing as her knees probably would have given out at Harry's smile and innuendo. "We'll have time for that later Mr. Potter, but I could use a good shower and a fresh set of clothes."

It was amazing how easily Harry could switch moods, his whole demeanor turned from playful to serious in a matter of moments as he turned to look Ginny in the eyes "Will there be a later?" Ginny's eyes quickly switched from surprise to anger, she pushed him away and got out of the bed, the comforter wrapped around her. "Who do you think I am, a scarlet woman who would just give herself to the first willing man?" Her voice rose in volume as she continued to speak, " Is that how you see me? Is that all I am to you? A means to an end, a one night stand?" Her eyes shined with unshed tears as she glared at him. "Answer me, Harry Potter!"

Harry looked positively abashed, whatever he had been expecting for a response, it certainly wasn't that. "That isn't how I see you, and you know that." He spoke softly holding her gaze with his, full of doubt and even self loathing "I thought that you regretted what we did last night, that you'd rather just be friends." He got out of the bed to stand in front of her, conjuring a pair of boxers with a wave of his hand. "Ginny, Dean was a fool to lose you, he didn't deserve you, and neither do I. With all the things I've done, I'm not even sure I deserve the happiness you've already given me, let alone a life of it. Which is why I asked," He touched her cheek. "I never meant to hurt you or insinuate anything against your moral character. I just…" he wasn't sure why he had asked her what he did.

Ginny's eyes softened and quickly filled with tears as Harry lapsed off into silence, then what he said sunk in. _He feels guilty for everyone who died during the war, even Voldemort._ She blinked as she processed the meaning of everything else he said. _Oh Merlin! He wants to spend the rest of his life with me!_

Ginny realized that she and Harry had been standing in silence for nearly a minute and rushed forward to hug him fiercely. She cried into his chest, "Oh Harry, you dense, silly, stupid, wonderful man. I don't deserve you, but that's not going to stop me! I've always loved you Harry, but I needed to find out what that meant. That's why I turned you down last year; it's why we've been just friends for so long!" She looked up at him, somewhat blotchy from the tears, "I love you and heaven help anyone who gets in my way!"

Harry couldn't find words to express any of what he was feeling at that particular moment; he just smiled looking down at her. Ginny was surprised to see the sorrow so common in Harry's emerald orbs melt away as he leaned down to press his lips to hers.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed it, I just wanted to thank Theophany for helping me polish around the edges.


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